Sweat and Tears
by isheebishee
Summary: His passion was once running. Her passion is running as well, she gets to see a side of House no one else has seen. Chapter 4 brings lots of banter! :
1. Running passion

**Hey everyone, I got an idea for a fan fic and i decided that i would try it out. If you guys like it please review and tell me, and i will write more. Just remember this is just the beginning, you know like when House does that thing at the beginning of the show where they introduce the patient of the week, well thats what this is. Hopefully you all like it :) **

**Sweat and tears**

Looking down at the small screen in front of her she pushed her thumb down onto one of the buttons and increased the speed, listening to her feet pound heavily against the treadmill and the music that blasted in her ears. Looking back up at the clock she pressed the button to stop and slowed down to a walking pace as the machine stopped. Grabbing her water and chugging half of the bottle before throwing it to the side she made her way across the gym.

Wiping away the few drops of water that made their way down her chin she panted and ran out the doors and out onto the field. Teachers, students and coaches lined the field, some were already racing, some were stretching and some were checking out their competition for the day.

She jogged up towards a tall man with fine black hair who was pacing back and fourth across the field and every few seconds glancing at his watch.

"Where were you?" He asked, turning towards her as she came up beside him.

"I was in the gym getting ready," she said, holding her hands over her hips as she continued to catch her breath.

"Have you eaten?" he asked, turning his attention back towards the races and away from her small face.

"I'll have an energy drink before the race," She answered, bending down and touching her feet with the tips of her fingers in a stretch.

He nodded, but kept his eyes on the race that was going on in front of them.

"Any good?" She asked, for the first time watching the girls that were running at full speed towards the finish line.

"Yeah, you've got some real competition this time," he said, eyeing her and nodding his head towards a short blonde girl in tight blue shorts.

"How fast?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared over at the girl who she was jumping up and down at the fact that she had just won her race.

"Fast enough," was all he said before he turned back to her, "Get ready your up against her in five," he said, rubbing his hand over his forehead before making his way to his other runners.

She pulled her arms over her head and closed her eyes as she let them fall back down to her side, and started in on some lunges to stretch her legs.

The starting line was always when you felt the nerves truly kick in, there was a feeling inside your stomach that wouldn't go away and your palms felt sweaty.

She kicked her feet up behind her hitting the back of her thighs as she breathed in and out trying to calm herself before she ran. The red gravel beneath her feet scraped against the bottoms of her shoes as she wiped her hands against her small black shorts.

She looked over to her competition, the short girl with the blonde hair and the blue shorts, who was doing the exact same thing as if she was mimicking her and breathing in and out loudly as sweat trickled from the base of her scalp.

"Are you okay?" She asked the girl who was breathing even deeper as she kicked her feet.

"I will be once I've beat you," She said, in a bitter tone that made her wince, usually her competition respected her, seeing as she was currently known as the 'best'.

"Then you'll be feeling like that for a while," She said back to the short girl beside her. She wasn't one to usually be defensive and mean, but today was different.

They both took their places and as the gun went off all she could hear were the rhythmic beat of her heart in her ears and the pounding of her feet against the ground. The loud cheers that were all around them were gone along with the faces of the people as she zoned in on only one thing, the finish line.

A few more long strides and she would be there; she was in first, but gravity was taken away when she fell hard onto the gravel, landing in the blonde haired girl's lane and feeling a sharp pain trail through her head as the girls foot came into contact with her face and blood spilled from her nose and gashed lip.

The burning in the palms of her hands and knees was gone unnoticed when the pain in her leg screamed and she screamed with it, tears spilling over her cut up face as the cheers stopped and the sounds of more screams came from the people around her. She leaned her head back in the frustration to see Blondie cross the finish line throwing her arms in the air before turning around and placing her hands over her mouth, just like she had no idea of what was going on.

Peoples faces blurred around her as she looked up through clouded eyes filled with hot tears and blood falling from her lips as she continued to scream, grabbing onto her leg clinging it towards her chest.

"Call an ambulance!" She heard someone yell just as she blacked out from the pain.

**PS: PLEASR REVIEW and tell my your thoughts..thanks :)**


	2. Ducklings Quack

**A/N: Hey guys thank you so much for the reviews and hopefulyl soem of your questions will be answered in this chapter and you will continue to read :) Please review everyone because i love them and i would like to hear your thoughts on it and give me in put. Constructive critiscm(sp) is always great too :D THANKS! **

**Ducklings Quack**

The gentle beeping of the monitors surrounding her and the familiar smell of antiseptic were what awaited her when she finally came to her senses. Keeping her eyes closed against the bright light she squirmed in the white covers on the bed, her legs getting tangled in the sheets causing a bolt of pain to run up the course of her leg and remind her of the situation she was in. Running her tongue along her bottom lip she could feel that it was fat, her whole face felt like it was puffy. The bitter taste of blood was on her tongue and she coughed lightly not wanting to shake her body any more than needed; just that action made her head throb.

The sliding door to her room opened and she feigned sleep as she heard footsteps and hushed voices enter. The beeping of the machines around her seemed to fade out as the voices took over and she listened carefully to every word they were saying. She figured she could get any information she wanted to know by simply listening, she didn't need to ask. She hadn't seen or talked to a doctor in almost five years now, and she had no intention in speaking to them now, it was something she went out of her way to stay away from, yet here she was.

When her mom was in the hospital she had sat by her side every single day for almost a year, her hand in hers as she silently prayed that she would walk out of the hospital alive. She was the one who smiled down at her every time she opened her eyes and encouraged her to stay alive for one more day, but she didn't. She was left on her own until someone had taken her in.

"So why do you think House took this case?" She was shook out of her reverie as she heard one of the people who had entered finally speak; it was a low voice.

"What do you mean?" She tried to keep her breathing steady as if she was asleep while listening to the two talk, this one was a lady.

"We haven't had a case in over a month, and then this one comes in and he's the one to say he wants it," the man sounded incredulous as he spoke, stopping what he was doing as the shuffling of papers had left as did the squeak of his sneakers against the floor.

"Maybe this is what happened to him," a new voice entered the conversation.

There was quiet for a moment as if all three were contemplating this suggestion.

She shifted in the bed slightly hoping not to let them see her as she let out a sigh and rolled her head to the right where all three seemed to be standing so that she could hear them better.

"We've got to get these blood samples," the girl said, moving towards her arm and swabbing it before grabbing a syringe and sticking the needle in to get the blood.

She wondered why they needed blood, her leg hurt and that was it.

"Chase could be right," the man let out a short laugh before continuing, "He's even grumpier than usual." He said at last, making that last statement sound like something that couldn't be possible.

"I even saw him hit Wilson with his cane this morning," the man with the accent was speaking again and she remembered his name as Chase.

The three of them laughed for a moment before the door opened once again; she was starting to wonder how important she was to have so many doctors.

"So that's her huh?" She heard another male voice ask as he entered the room and stopped at the foot of the bed. She felt strange having so many eyes on her at that moment and was tempted to quickly open her eyes and surprise them all.

"Yep, that's her," It was the low voice speaking again who had originally wondered why the man known as Dr. House had taken her case.

"She's a runner," it was Chase this time filling him in on the details. It seemed as if no one even knew her name.

"The best." The guy who had just entered the room seemed to know more than the others. She tried not to smirk and open her mouth to tell them she wasn't the best anymore.

"Do you know why he took the case?" It was the lady and she had now moved away from her arm and was standing with the others.

"He was a runner, infact he was the best," There was another pause except this one was longer than the last, they were all processing the information. It seemed as if none of them could imagine it.

The four of them filed out of the room a few moments later after cleaning up a few things and she laid her head back against the pillow letting out a relived sigh.

She opened her eyes for the first time and looked around the room and to herself, her emerald green eyes sparkling over with tears as they moved down to scan her own body. She thought she looked small under all the covers and dressed in the hospital clothing. Her tan seemed to have diminished in the pale white of the hospital room and her long dark hair stuck messily to her face.

She tried to push herself up as she thought of the Dr. House they had spoken of, and thought that she would really like to meet him if he was once a runner like herself. The cuts in her hands and knees started to make their selves known as she stared down at the tiny marks that indented her palms.

All she really got from listening to the doctors conversations was that this Dr. House seemed to be one of the doctors that she would actually want to talk to.

**PS: Remember to review**

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	3. Fly Away

**J. Daisy**: Thank you so much for your great review! Hopefully you like this one too!

**Didius:** Thanks! And yup the fourth person was indeed Wilson

**Adalia:** Thank you :) I hope you read some more

**Marauder**: You will see what she brings out in House VERY soon! lol

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, and I hope maybe this time I will get some more:) **

The sun was shining in through her window, and the warmth lessened the intensity of pain that was running through her body. The birds sang happily, chirping away, making all the staff of the hospital cheery, smiles illuminating their faces. Instead of watching the birds fly and basking in the warmth of the sun that shone through her window, she stared idly at the shoes that were sitting in her cupboard.

Her eyes fixed on the pink swoosh that decorated the sides of them, willing the doctor that was in her room to leave, wishing that she could hop from the bed, tie her shoes tight and run down the smooth surfaces of the hospitals halls. She closed her eyes and envisioned her feet pounding hard against the ground, the finish line in the distance.

"You've got a visitor," the doctor said, she looked up at her, Dr.Cameron, she couldn't say she really liked her…she got on her nerves.

She looked to the quiet ticking clock on the wall before looking over at the man who stood in the doorway of her room.

"You're late," she said, turning her head back to the shoes and imagining her race out of here once again.

"What like 20 minutes?" he asked, staring at the clock on the wall that she had looked at earlier, and then continued to talk as he came closer to her bed, "You planning on running out of here?" he chuckled lightly.

Her eyes darted up to his face and she leaned back in the bed glaring at him, "I was thinking about it," her lips curled up a little into a small smirk, "and you about," she looked at the clock, "Three days late…I've been here for three days now." She didn't look at his face anymore, but instead out the window for the first time that day and past Dr.Cameron who was most likely pretending to read her chart.

The man stood, his hands coming out to his sides as he spoke, "What did you want me to do, I have other people to coach…not just you," he answered sharply, letting out a long puff of air when he was finished as if he regretted what he had said.

"Yeah, not anymore," she answered, looking down at herself, tubes and monitors attached to her, her leg hidden under the bed although it was making its presence known.

"I could always reschedule another race…" he said rather slowly, easing her into the idea.

"Is that all you think about? _**Winning**_?" She took a breath, trying to keep the tears from falling and looking weak. " You've got other girls get them to race the champion…if you didn't notice I'm in a hospital bed and they still don't know what's wrong with me…so maybe you should just leave," she said, nodding her head towards the door.

"Hadlee," he tried to say something, but she gave him an icy stare.

"Go , mike." She said, letting her tears finally fall, as she spoke through gritted teeth.

He left with his head down, shaking it back and forth. As he left she looked up at Dr.Cameron and glared at her as well, watching as she put down the chart in her hand and made her way out too.

She leaned forward and lifted her leg over the bed, wincing as pain shot through it. Her brown hair fell in front of her eyes sticking to the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

The shoes sat in front of her eyes…continuing to taunt her.

She hated Mike at this moment, for putting hope into her head, that, maybe she would be racing again. She hated him for not being there when it all began, and she hated him for not being the parental figure he was supposed to be being.

He had given her those shoes, she remembered the day perfectly. It was when she had first gone to live with him as her foster parent. She loved being there with him at first, he was nice and he cared, but closer to the present he had brought coaching home and had been pushing her to her limits, nagging her about every single thing that she did. She hated him for that.

Just as she went to hop from the bed and onto the ground, a cane flew in front of her face, stopping her right where she was.

**Thank you very much for reading :) **


	4. Copy Cat

**Hey everybody! Here is the next chapter to sweat and tears...i hope you like it, i thought it had some pretty good banter in it between the two. The next chapter will be a bit heavier than this one. anyways i hope that you enjoy this! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read last time, hopefully you continue to and i get some more reviews:) CYA! **

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**Chapter 4: Copycat**

"You must be Hailee," the man on the other end of the cane said, letting it fall back down to the ground, leaning on it as he stared at her.

"Close, its Hadlee", she answered, sitting back on the bed, seeing as she wouldn't be able to get passed the man that was blocking her way.

"I hear you're a runner," He said, a slight grin on his face. She stared at him warily for a moment before grinning as well.

"I hear you're a runner," she said back, her grin becoming wider.

"You've got something wrong with your leg," He said, reading over her charts as he limped away to the end of her bed.

"You've got something wrong with your leg," she repeated keeping her eyes on his.

His eyes darted up to her face and he stood there for a moment watching her as she watched him. Her eyes didn't once go down to his cane, and that's what he was waiting for. He was slightly pissed that she had brought up his leg.

"If you're going to keep repeating everything I say then this conversation is going nowhere," he replied sarcastically as he grabbed a syringe and snapped some gloves on, obviously trying to intimidate her.

"If you're going to keep bringing up things we have in common, **then **this conversation won't be going anywhere," she said, as she moved back on the bed and slowly rested her leg on a pillow, trying to keep the pain away from her face.

"You know I do have a big needle in my hand," he snarked sitting down in the chair next to her bed and wiping off her forearm, "It could be _dangerousss_."

"Yeah, well I have…" She looked around the room and her bed but couldn't spot anything, "…nothing."

He actually laughed as he stuck her arm with the needle and took her blood. This patient actually seemed to be some fun.

"You were the best," she said, after a moment of silence from their witty banter.

"You were the best," he answered, looking up at her as he pushed a cotton ball over her arm and a band aid on top. He smirked as she rolled her eyes at his attempt to copy her.

"I still am the best," he continued looking up to meet her eyes, "I win by whacking all my opponents," he said, holding up his cane for emphasis.

"What if I can't race again?" She asks, looking away from him and at her shoes sitting in the cupboard.

"Then you move on…" he answers, somewhat trying to blow off the question, although he felt something when she asked that. His answer was what he truly believed she should do, it's what he had done, although he had never forgotten it.

"No, I'll race again, and I'll win this time," Her voice is quieter now, wondering why she is talking to this man in the first place, and why she feels so comfortable telling him this stuff.

"Wanna bring my cane?" His voice has a smile to it, and she looks up to face him.

"Yeah, so when blondie kicks me in the head next time I can hit her with it," she says, jokingly.

"…the head trauma came from her…." He mumbles to himself as he fiddles with some things around her bed.

"Hadlee, ready for your MRI?" Foreman stopped talking when he looked up to see who was in the room.

"House…what are you doing here?" Foreman motions to the wheelchair as he talks and helps her down into it.

"Having a slumber party with my bestest pal," he pauses after he smirks, "…What's it look like I'm talking to our patient, you know the thing that doctors do."

"Yeah…other doctors…not you," Foreman says a slight smile on his face, knowing exactly why House is in here. She's a runner.

House scrunches up his face and watches as Foreman wheels his newest and most interesting patient out into the hall.

"Bye **Have**!" he yelled, waving enthusiastically.

She looked back and waved.

"Bye Doctor **Apartment**!"

**How did you guys like it?**

**BY: ISH**


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